RDDAILY

We did a Boardwalk balcony on the Wonder to test it out. Will not do an inside balcony again, No air movement, loud (especially the aqua show), no water views. Great to try, but not our thing. 

1) I haven't stayed in a Deck 3 cabin - I actually won a Royal Up to a Deck 3 Oceanview (had an interior cabin) and then got moved to an Oceanview balcony no charge and this was in March 2022. Can't say the same will happen to you, but it's a possibility.
2) I've stayed in Both - no noise issues if the balcony door is closed. If it's open, central park is pretty chill (evenings (not nights) have some form of music (jazz/violinist, classical guitarist) playing and it's nice. Boardwalk balconies are noisier (with the balcony door open) but depending on where you are, you might be able to watch the aqua show from there. 

No worries

What he said^

You'll be fine.

I’m sad to say I’ve decided to end this blog now, even though we haven’t cruised yet and it was just getting close to the good stuff.  Without going into details, the universe just keeps throwing curveball after curveball.
While we are still planning on cruising, I need to disconnect and decompress so I can come back ready to deal with the impacts of all those curveballs😡.  I will take some pictures and post them at some point once things settle down.  
 
Thanks to all for following along until now. And all the great tips that helped me plan what will be an amazing cruise!  
 

I'm so sorry this happened.  Praying for a speedy recovery for your mom and sister, and that you continue to test negative.  

Hi!  We are thinking of doing this same tour on our cruise in July.  Would love to know what you thought about it when you return!  

Hi!  We are thinking of doing this same tour on our cruise in July.  Would love to know what you thought about it when you return!  

It's hard enough for me to get any work done just thinking about upcoming cruises.  I would NEVER get anything done if that was my daily view.

Obviously way too busy...see what I did there!  Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

Do it, you won't regret it!!

Thanks for the tips.  We'll be in town for meetings, and typically like to take customers out to cool local places with creative menus. Cvi.che 105 looks amazing.  

I woke up on that ship while that photo was taken!

Ditto. Ice storm. No school today. No cruise today. No soup for you!

I will gladly take a view of ice, and snow and ESPECIALLY the view of Navigator of the Seas over a trauma bay in the ER any day!!!!?Yes I am officially jealous!  I truly think that it would be hard to get my work done if that was my view though! 

The snow here is so high that I no longer have view of the ice.  

Now that is a view!

Off topic, but I'll be staying nearby at the JW Marriott at the end of April, and I'd love to get some recommendations for a nice dinner spot near our hotel.  

Well this sucks, all i'm seeing from my office window is ice...

Hi! I'm sure you love the work that you do, but I can understand why you would prefer my view   I have to say, one of the best things about where I work is that I get to see all of the new/remodeled ships when they come into port.  I was already booked on the Mariner when she docked here in Miami, and I was literally jumping up and down with excitement when I first saw her!  Pretty sure some of my co-workers thought I was a little bit crazy!!  I remember when Symphony docked, I thought holy crap that's a big ship!!  I've also been able to see the new terminal being built from the ground up.  I guess I can't complain!

I'm so jealous!! 

VolFanInGa - Hi!  The JW Marriott is a beautiful hotel.  You will love it!  As far as dinner, I guess it depends on what type of food you would like!  In the downtown area, Fratelli Milano has amazing, fresh Italian food.  Cvi.che 105 has some of the freshest ceviche and seafood you could ever have.  Just across the Brickell Bridge (about a two minute Uber ride from your hotel), you have Capital Grille.  It's probably one of the best known restaurants in the area.  Brickell has a ton of really good restaurants.  If you have a couple of hours to spare and want dinner with a view, you can go to Bayside Marketplace.  It's on the bay, and has great shopping and restaurants.  There's a Hard Rock Café, Bubba Gump Shrimp, and many other places to eat.  You can always Google all of these places to see their menus, etc.  If you would like a specific type of food, I'll be more than happy to give you some more suggestions! 

I admit I haven't really been keeping up with Royal Caribbean news, so when I saw this ship from my office window this morning, I was a bit surprised!  After staring at the bow for a little bit, I was finally able to read the name, Navigator of the Seas!  She looks absolutely amazing!  We went on Mariner last year, and would love to go on Navigator in the near future.

Hello fellow cruisers! We just returned from our vacation on the Mariner of the Seas. I wanted to do a review, and hopefully answer any questions you guys have about the cruise. I will include information regarding restrictions for age/height for the on-board activities, since I did not find many answers to these questions before our cruise.

About us: Me (the mom, and planner of all family vacations!) My husband, (the dad, and the one that does not want to know a thing about the vacation until it's time to pack!) We have two sons - our oldest, who I will call RS, is 9 years old, and our youngest, who I will call DS, is 4.

We got the refreshment package during one of the sales, and I thought it was totally worth it.

We had an inside cabin, #6223, which we loved. It was quiet, and was just a staircase away from the Royal Promenade. We loved having the pizza and specialty coffee just a floor away. FYI for parents sharing the room with their kids, they must be 6 years old to use the Pullman bed (and yes, there's a sticker on it that tells you that!) RS slept on the Pullman, and DS slept on the king bed with my husband and I.

We live in Miami, so my mom dropped us off at the port on Monday. We arrived at the port at 11:15, and were on the ship around 11:35. Super easy check in and boarding process. Once on board, we headed straight to the Windjammer for lunch. It was not crowded at all, and we had no problem finding a table.

Sky Pad - RS was really excited to try this, so we headed straight there after lunch. Age restriction: must be at least 5 years old to use the Sky Pad (needless to say we had a very disappointed 4 year old)! We waited around 40 minutes since only two of the trampolines were in use. RS used the VR glasses and really enjoyed it.

Laser Tag - Must be at least 5 years old and 40 inches in height. RS and my husband said it was really fun to do.

Slides - Must be 48 inches to use the slides. They would close the slides at 7 PM. RS went on the slides on the day we were in Nassau, from about 5:45 to 7:00. This was a great time to do it. The most he had in line in front of him was 2 people. He literally would exit the slide, go back up the stairs, and ride it again! He also rode them again on sea day around 6:15, and again there was hardly a line to use them.

Ice skating - This was the one activity DS was really looking forward to, since it was one of the few things he could do. No age/height restriction. He lasted about five minutes on the ice, then told me he was too tired to continue. Gotta love four year olds!! We did not get to see the ice skating show, as they only did it the first and second day of the cruise. The ice skating and laser tag share the same venue, so in order to have one set up, they cannot do the other.

Pools - We tended to use the pools in the late afternoon, after 5 PM, when they weren't so crowded. They are small, and pretty deep (5'3"). RS is pretty tall and he couldn't reach the bottom. They provide life vests, which DS loved to use because he could swim around the pool without having to hold on to me.

Kids club - Both of the kids used the kids club for about an hour a day. They both really enjoyed it. For those of you wondering, yes, you can step down in age group if that's what your child would like. RS just turned 9 on the 4th of July, and he was a little worried about being in the 9-11 age group. They allowed him to be in the 6-8 group, with no problems. They leave a kids club cruise compass every day in the room, with the hours and activities scheduled.

Cocoa Cay - It was a lazy beach day. We got to the island around 11:30, and stayed until about 3:30.

Nassau - We did not have any excursions planned, so we got off the ship around 3:00. We walked to Junkanoo Beach. It's about a 15 minute walk, and is very safe because you are walking down streets crowded with tourists. The water was absolutely beautiful, crystal clear and warm. The sand, not so much! There were a lot of rocks, but they were spaced out. So, it's not as if you were constantly stepping on rocks when you were in the water. The water was so clear, that it was easy to see if you were going to step on one.

Food - We ate at the buffet for all meals. Food was pretty good, although a bit repetitive. They did have themes (Mexican, Caribbean, etc.), but that was just one small section of the buffet. Breakfast did get very crowded on Nassau day and sea day. On Nassau day, we could not get a table and they ended up opening Jamie's Restaurant for people to sit. Otherwise, we never had a problem finding a table to sit at. We ate A LOT of pizza!!! Since it was literally just a staircase away, it was an easy mid-day/late night snack. I thought it was pretty good, and it was always fresh and hot out of the oven.

I hope anyone going on Mariner finds the review helpful. She is a beautiful ship, and they did a great job with the refurbishment. I'm happy to answer any questions my fellow cruisers may have!

Hello fellow cruisers! We just returned from our vacation on the Mariner of the Seas. I wanted to do a review, and hopefully answer any questions you guys have about the cruise. I will include information regarding restrictions for age/height for the on-board activities, since I did not find many answers to these questions before our cruise.

About us: Me (the mom, and planner of all family vacations!) My husband, (the dad, and the one that does not want to know a thing about the vacation until it's time to pack!) We have two sons - our oldest, who I will call RS, is 9 years old, and our youngest, who I will call DS, is 4.

We got the refreshment package during one of the sales, and I thought it was totally worth it.

We had an inside cabin, #6223, which we loved. It was quiet, and was just a staircase away from the Royal Promenade. We loved having the pizza and specialty coffee just a floor away. FYI for parents sharing the room with their kids, they must be 6 years old to use the Pullman bed (and yes, there's a sticker on it that tells you that!) RS slept on the Pullman, and DS slept on the king bed with my husband and I.

We live in Miami, so my mom dropped us off at the port on Monday. We arrived at the port at 11:15, and were on the ship around 11:35. Super easy check in and boarding process. Once on board, we headed straight to the Windjammer for lunch. It was not crowded at all, and we had no problem finding a table.

Sky Pad - RS was really excited to try this, so we headed straight there after lunch. Age restriction: must be at least 5 years old to use the Sky Pad (needless to say we had a very disappointed 4 year old)! We waited around 40 minutes since only two of the trampolines were in use. RS used the VR glasses and really enjoyed it.

Laser Tag - Must be at least 5 years old and 40 inches in height. RS and my husband said it was really fun to do.

Slides - Must be 48 inches to use the slides. They would close the slides at 7 PM. RS went on the slides on the day we were in Nassau, from about 5:45 to 7:00. This was a great time to do it. The most he had in line in front of him was 2 people. He literally would exit the slide, go back up the stairs, and ride it again! He also rode them again on sea day around 6:15, and again there was hardly a line to use them.

Ice skating - This was the one activity DS was really looking forward to, since it was one of the few things he could do. No age/height restriction. He lasted about five minutes on the ice, then told me he was too tired to continue. Gotta love four year olds!! We did not get to see the ice skating show, as they only did it the first and second day of the cruise. The ice skating and laser tag share the same venue, so in order to have one set up, they cannot do the other.

Pools - We tended to use the pools in the late afternoon, after 5 PM, when they weren't so crowded. They are small, and pretty deep (5'3"). RS is pretty tall and he couldn't reach the bottom. They provide life vests, which DS loved to use because he could swim around the pool without having to hold on to me.

Kids club - Both of the kids used the kids club for about an hour a day. They both really enjoyed it. For those of you wondering, yes, you can step down in age group if that's what your child would like. RS just turned 9 on the 4th of July, and he was a little worried about being in the 9-11 age group. They allowed him to be in the 6-8 group, with no problems. They leave a kids club cruise compass every day in the room, with the hours and activities scheduled.

Cocoa Cay - It was a lazy beach day. We got to the island around 11:30, and stayed until about 3:30.

Nassau - We did not have any excursions planned, so we got off the ship around 3:00. We walked to Junkanoo Beach. It's about a 15 minute walk, and is very safe because you are walking down streets crowded with tourists. The water was absolutely beautiful, crystal clear and warm. The sand, not so much! There were a lot of rocks, but they were spaced out. So, it's not as if you were constantly stepping on rocks when you were in the water. The water was so clear, that it was easy to see if you were going to step on one.

Food - We ate at the buffet for all meals. Food was pretty good, although a bit repetitive. They did have themes (Mexican, Caribbean, etc.), but that was just one small section of the buffet. Breakfast did get very crowded on Nassau day and sea day. On Nassau day, we could not get a table and they ended up opening Jamie's Restaurant for people to sit. Otherwise, we never had a problem finding a table to sit at. We ate A LOT of pizza!!! Since it was literally just a staircase away, it was an easy mid-day/late night snack. I thought it was pretty good, and it was always fresh and hot out of the oven.

I hope anyone going on Mariner finds the review helpful. She is a beautiful ship, and they did a great job with the refurbishment. I'm happy to answer any questions my fellow cruisers may have!